'Game of Thrones' review: A pivotal season 4

David Wiegand |
April 2, 2014
| Updated: April 4, 2014 1:36pm

Tyrion Lannister (Peter Dinklage, left) and his family are not exactly fans of Prince Oberyn Martell (Pedro Pascal), a sexual omnivore known as the Red Viper. Fans who want a refresher or newcomers: Click through the slideshow to see where last season left off.

Photo By Helen Sloan/Associated Press

Arya Stark: Following the murder of her brother, Robb, and mother Catelyn, at the Red Wedding, she’s running short on family. She’s traveling from the ill-fated wedding in the company of Sandor “the Hound” Clegane. And she’s feeling vengeful. “Valar morghulis.”

Photo By HBO

Theon Greyjoy: The tortured captive has been renamed “Reek” by Roose Bolton’s bastard, Ramsay Snow, and also had his boy part liberated. He’s feeling decidedly less confident.

Photo By HBO

Tyrion Lannister: His strained relationships with father Tywin
and sister Cersei means he is also running short on family. He was also
forced into an arranged marriage with Sansa Stark (right), which neither was
eager to consummate.

Photo By HELENSLOAN

But we all know Tyrion's heart belongs to a prostitute-turned-servant named Shae.

Joffrey: Still the same ol' Joffrey. At last count, he wanted to serve Sansa the head of her brother, Robb Stark, during her wedding to Tyrion.

Photo By hbo

Margaery Tyrell: Joffrey's manipulative fiance last left off with a death threat by her future mother-in-law Cersei, (or sister-in-law, depending on how you look at it) after an attempt on Margaery's part to play nice with queen. And you thought your in-laws were hard to win over.

Photo By Helen Sloan/Associated Press

Jaime Lannister: Filthy, disheveled and missing a hand after his long journey to King’s Landing, it remains to be seen how his sister and lover Cersei will react.

Photo By Helen Sloan

Cersei Lannister: The Queen Regent is barely able to contain her evil son Joffrey, is reunited with brother and lover Jaime, and continues to be manipulated by her father Tywin.

Photo By HBO

Jon Snow: Turns out his betrayal of the Night’s Watch was all for show, which doesn't sit right with Ygritte. Betrayed, she uses him as target practice with her arrows and wounded Jon returns to Castle Black at the Wall.

Photo By HELENSLOAN/HBO

Ygritte: Still Jon's ride-or-die chick. Or is it the other way around?

Photo By HBO

Tywin Lannister: After the Red Wedding, his Stark nemeses are nearly all dead, but he’s having trouble controlling his awful king and grandson, Joffrey, whose cruelty only increases with power.

Photo By HBO

Daenerys Targaryen: Her patchwork army continues to expand when she frees the slaves from the city of Yunkai, who fall in behind her. Also her dragons continue to grow.

Photo By Helen Sloan

Stannis Baratheon: Still grouchy, still smarting after being thrown back at Blackwater, he ponders — at the suggestion of Ser Davos Seaworth — the value of assembling a force to move toward the Wall.

Photo By HELENSLOAN/HBO

Melisandre: The Red Priestess reveals the truth of Gendry's heritage to him... and then tries to leech his blood for a ritual.

Photo By Helen Sloan/Associated Press

Gendry: He escapes being a pawn in one of Melisandre's rituals thanks to Davos Seaworth.

Photo By HBO

Hodor: Hodor.

Ned Stark: Dead.

Robb Stark: Dead.

Photo By HBO

Catelyn Stark: Dead.

Keep clicking to check out scenes from season four.

Photo By Macall B. Polay

Margaery Tyrell (played byNatalie Dormer) and Olenna Tyrell (played by Diana Rigg) in season four of 'Game of Thrones.'

Daenerys Targaryen (played by Emilia Clarke) and Missandei (played by Nathalie Emmanuel) in season four of 'Game of Thrones.'

Photo By Helen Sloan

Jon Snow (played by Kit Harington) in season four of 'Game of Thrones.'

Daenerys Targaryen (played by Emilia Clarke) in season four of 'Game of Thrones.'

Photo By Neil Davidson

Samwell Tarly (played by John Bradley) in season four of 'Game of Thrones.'

Ygritte (played byRose Leslie) and Tormund Giantsbane (played by Kristofer Hivju) in season four of 'Game of Thrones.'

Arya Stark (played by Maisie Williams) and Sandor 'The Hound' Clegane (played by Rory McCann) in season four of 'Game of Thrones.'

Photo By Helen Sloan

Sandor 'The Hound' Clegane (played by Rory McCann) in season four of 'Game of Thrones.'

Photo By Neil Davidson

Nikolaj Coster-Waldau as Jaime Lannister and Lena Headey as Cersei Lannister in season four of 'Game of Thrones.'

Photo By Macall B. Polay

Sophie Turner asSansa Stark andPeter Dinklage as Tyrion Lannister in season four of 'Game of Thrones.'

Photo By Macall B. Polay

Tywin Lannister (played by Charles Dance) in season four of 'Game of Thrones.'

Photo By Macall B. Polay

Daario Naharis (played by Michiel Huisman) in season four of 'Game of Thrones.'

Photo By Macall B. Polay/HBO

Peter Dinklage as Tyrion Lannister and Pedro Pascal as Oberyn Martell on season four of 'Game of Thrones.'

Photo By Macall B. Polay/HBO

Peter Dinklage as Tyrion Lannister and Sibel Kekilli as his lover Shae in season four of 'Game of Thrones.'

Game of Thrones: Season four premiere. 9 p.m. Sunday on HBO.

Um, spoiler alert? Oh, why bother?

The title of the fourth season of "Game of Thrones" says it all. Yes, "All Men Must Die," and at this point, the only way HBO's great and addictive epic could shock us would be to air a season without the death of at least one major character.

As "The Lion King" might put it, it's the "circle of life" in the Seven Kingdoms of the mythical continent of Westeros, the setting for the series based on the series of fantasy novels by George R.R. Martin. As the new season kicks off Sunday, fans are still trying to sort out the implications of the infamous Red Wedding episode (actually titled "The Rains of Castamere") from season three. It was only the ninth of the season's 10 episodes, but remains the most memorable, not only because of the slaughter of major characters Robb, Catelyn and Talisa Stark (Richard Madden, Michelle Fairley and Oona Chaplin), but because the massacre left the perception of a significant power vacuum in the overall story.

The fourth season opens with questions about whether the Starks can still wield influence in the Seven Kingdoms. Can Ned's bastard son Jon Snow (Kit Harington) lead the family? Ned's daughter Sansa (Sophie Turner) has married Tyrion Lannister (Peter Dinklage), but it is a political marriage arranged by Tywin Lannister (Charles Dance) after he discovered the plot to unite the Stark and Tyrell factions by marrying Sansa off to Loras Tyrell (Finn Jones). Can she use the marriage to "the Imp" to the advantage of what's left of her family?

There's yet another wedding in the offing in season four, and given what happened last season, it's eagerly anticipated: The sadistic boy king Joffrey Baratheon (Jack Gleeson) will tie the knot (probably several of them, but let's not get to the honeymoon just yet) with Lady Margaery Tyrell (Natalie Dormer). No one would ever nominate Joffrey as husband of the year, but Margaery and her grandmother, Olenna, (Diana Rigg), know the value of a great political alliance when they see one. So what if your husband-to-be is a sadist? Nobody's perfect.

Adding to our anticipation of the wedding is the arrival of wedding guest Prince Oberyn Martell (Pedro Pascal), a sexual omnivore known as the Red Viper who has little fondness for the Lannisters. Naturally, the Lannisters are a little worried about what he may have brought as a wedding gift.

Of course, there are even more plot strings than there are kingdoms in Westeros, and yes, the season lives up to its title in the first few episodes.

But putting aside the deaths, marriages, betrayals and other quotidian events in the Seven Kingdoms, the fourth season quickly announces itself as a significant transitional phase in the unfolding of the epic: With so many major characters now gone, we can feel "Game of Thrones" moving forward, not only with new players such as the Red Viper, but with the younger generation assuming larger and perhaps in the future, pivotal roles.

Even without getting into specifics of what happens in season four, we've already seen Sansa move to center stage, not just because of her marriage to Tyrion, but also because she exhibits the kind of strategic intelligence we would expect from a major player. If her father's execution didn't toughen her up, surely the deaths of her brother and mother have. Perhaps reluctantly, she has become a survivor.

But even more fascinating is her younger sister Arya (Maisie Williams), who has already shown herself wise and self-reliant beyond her years. Even without having seen a single second of the new season, fans already know she is destined to play a significant role in the story.

We also see other characters evolving. The peaceable learn to play rough, previously self-assured confront self-doubt, and Theon Greyjoy (Alfie Allen) and Jaime Lannister (Nikolaj Coster-Waldau) have to go on without key body parts.

For many series, killing off major some major characters and having others change only happens because writers want to come up with something to renew viewer interest. In contrast, "Game of Thrones" isn't afraid of change: It's the lifeblood of the series, and just one of the reasons we keep watching.